Product Description

Part of the new Knowledge Essentials series, Third Grade Success shows you how to enrich your child’s classroom learning and take an active role in your third grader’s education by exploring:

•  What your third grader is learning at school and the educational standards to expect in math, language arts, science, and social studies
• Your child’s learning style—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—and how it affects the way your child learns and processes information
• Hundreds of easy-to-do activities designed to help your child meet specific learning requirements
• Environmental learning sections that identify learning opportunities in the everyday world
• Methods and checklists to assess your child’s academic progress
• Information on how teachers evaluate performance--portfolios, rubrics, test scores, and other tools of the trade
• Recommendations of age-appropriate books and software that will enhance learning

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #181251 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Review
"Knowledge Essentials is a remarkable series that will benefit children of all abilities and learning styles. Amy James has taken a close look at curriculum standards and testing around the country and developed simple and creative activities that support what’s being taught at each grade level, while remaining sensitive to the fact that children learn at different rates and in different ways. I highly recommend it for all parents who want to make a difference in their children’s education." --Michael Gurian, author of Boys and Girls Learn Differently and The Wonder of Boys

"Finally, a book about teaching young children by somebody who knows her stuff! I can (and will) wholeheartedly recommend this series to the ever-growing number of parents who ask me for advice about how they can help their children succeed in elementary school." --LouAnne Johnson, author of Dangerous Minds and The Queen of Education

"Having examined state standards nationwide, Amy James has created innovative and unique games and exercises to help children absorb what they have to learn, in ways that will help them want to learn. Individualized to the child's own learning style, this is a must-have series for parents who want to maximize their child's ability to succeed in and out of the classroom." --Myrna B. Shure, Ph.D, author of Thinking Parent, Thinking Child

"The books in Amy James’ timely and unique Knowledge Essentials series give parents a clear idea of what their children are learning and provide the tools they need to help their children live up to their full academic potential. This is must reading for any parent with a school-age child." --Michele Borba, Ed.D., author of Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me and No More Misbehavin’

From the Inside Flap
Part of the new Knowledge Essentials series, Third Grade Success shows you how to enrich your child’s classroom learning and take an active role in your third grader’s education by exploring:

• What your third grader is learning at school and the educational standards to expect in math, language arts, science, and social studies
• Your child’s learning style—visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—and how it affects the way your child learns and processes information
• Hundreds of easy-to-do activities designed to help your child meet specific learning requirements
• Environmental learning sections that identify learning opportunities in the everyday world
• Methods and checklists to assess your child’s academic progress
• Information on how teachers evaluate performance¾portfolios, rubrics, test scores, and other tools of the trade
• Recommendations of age-appropriate books and software that will enhance learning

Give your child the gift of your time—and help him or her get the most out of school with Third Grade Success.

About the Author
Amy James, a former social studies teacher, is a nationally respected authority on educational compliance issues and the No Child Left Behind Act. Her company, Six Things, Inc., provides consulting services for national media, publishers, and school districts on compliance with state and national education standards, as well as professional development for K–12 teachers.

Customer Reviews

Everything You Need to Know
This is an exceptional piece of work. Amy charts a wonderful path through the world of a 3rd grader starting with the developmental stages, learning styles and learning standards. This background is crucial for understanding the chapters on reading, writing, math, science, social studies and thinking skills. Each chapter includes check lists, fun, practical exercises and a discussion of how to apply the material in everyday life. The chapter on 3rd grade society is a detailed look into the world every 3rd grader experiences daily - very insightful. She concludes with reading suggestions and software recommendations.



This is a MUST have for every parent/grand parent with a little one in the third grade. Buy 2 copies - one for use and one for reference, it's that good!!

Highly Recommended
I found this book while browsing in the library, towards the end of my son's third grade (one more month to go). I just wish I had found the book sooner! My son has special needs, and goes to a special ed program. Like most other parents in a similar situation, I feel like his learning needs to be supplemented at home, but I have no clue about what to teach and how, especially in science and social studies, where no materials come home. This book addressed my needs very well. It appears to be a supplemental guide for parents to teach at home, for kids already learning in school. The book also claims it can help home-schoolers, and I can see that happening as well. I think it would also be useful for third grade teachers, to give them ideas about presenting the materials for the students, in different ways.

It starts with a few chapters about third graders in general. That helped me get perspective about what is "typical" and what is unique to my son. There is a section on Learning styles (which I found quite useful in referencing later chapters) and Learning Standards, which I barely skimmed through, so I can't comment on that.

The rest of the book is devoted to Third Grade curriculum. Each chapter starts with a nice, bulleted checklist of what a typical third grader should already know, and goes on to provide introduction about the chapter, e.g., reading, life science etc. And then there are suggested activities to help the child learn the topic. There are several activities for each topic, so you can pick and choose. Each activity lists expected time taken, materials required, and description. It is then followed by a key, explaining which parts will be useful for visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners (refer to Learning Styles chapter). All the topics that I looked at, seem to match-up with what was supposed to have been covered in our California school. Then, the chapters end with a bulleted checklist of what your third grader should have learned by now. Wonderful!!! Both the before and after checklists helped me identify "holes" in my son's learning, and hopefully, I will be able to address those areas later. The over-all layout of each chapter is very appealing, and it feels very pleasant to read.

I was very sure my son had no clue about the "sound" topic, even though it had been taught in class. We picked an easy "rubber chicken" activity. The book said it would take about a half hour, which I thought was too liberal... it is such an easy activity. But when we were actually done with it, it was right on the half-hour mark!! My son really loved doing it!! Then we did the spoon-gong activity, and I explained the concept of vibrations producing sounds... and my son just "got it". This coming from a child who needs at least a couple of days of constant repetition before he gets any new concept!! And he did not "zone-out" at all!!

I absolutely love this book, and look forward to using the Fourth Grade edition next year. I have not compared with other parent guides, so I cannot comment on which are better. In fact, I'm really considering buying this book to use over the summer.

One observation is that this book is completely geared towards parents. It would be great if there were some sections/activities for kids to read and follow-along by themselves. Or at least, conclusion to each topic, addressed to kids. I would find that very useful, as it would introduce the formal "terminology" to the kids, after the parents have already explained the topic to them. Even without this additional feature, I think it is quite a useful book.